The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 12

‘Reset.’

Shin Hae-soo’s world shifts. He’s back before he left work.

To minimize the butterfly effect, Hae-soo acts as he did before, leaves work at the same time, gets on his motorcycle, and calls the team leader.

[The phone is turned off—]

‘Of all times…’

Hae-soo speeds towards the intersection where the accident occurred, not caring about traffic cameras.

Waiting for the signal, his hands tremble. It’s more than just the feeling of touching a corpse.

Resetting means that person’s life and death are in his hands.

No matter how many times he does it, he can’t get used to it. The pressure doesn’t lessen. Because it’s a human life.

Especially in a volatile situation like this.

Vroom!

Hae-soo arrives at the Ganghwa intersection, where the accident occurred, at least five minutes earlier than before the reset.

To quickly respond to the wrong-way vehicle, he parks his motorcycle near the crosswalk and calls again.

[The phone is turned off—]

‘Aren’t asset managers supposed to answer their phones?’

Hae-soo nervously hangs up, puts his phone in his pocket, and sharpens his senses, looking around.

If he goes to where Team Leader Gu is expected to be and tries to stop him in advance, he might miss him. Waiting here minimizes the variables.

‘Hmm?’

A suspicious person is visible across the street. A hood is pulled low, obscuring their face. Judging by the figure, it’s a woman. Her mouth keeps moving, so she seems to be on a call.

She doesn’t cross even when the light is green, which makes Hae-soo suspicious.

She suddenly starts moving. Turning around, her mouth movements become more intense. Team Leader Gu appears where her gaze last landed.

Team Leader Gu runs. Just like before the reset, he crosses the crosswalk with only a little green light left.

Vroom!

A car speeds roughly in the wrong direction. Hae-soo shouts, looking at Team Leader Gu.

“Team Leader Gu, stop!!”

Team Leader Gu is startled by the loud shout and stops. He listens well. He was standing in the center of the crosswalk.

It’s a different location than before, but the feeling is still bad. He could feel the murderous intent of the oncoming car.

Hae-soo urgently twists the motorcycle’s accelerator. Unlike before the reset, the black sedan turns its steering wheel and heads straight for Team Leader Gu.

Screech-! Bang!

With a narrow margin, Hae-soo snatches Team Leader Gu out of the way, and at the same time, the front bumper of the black sedan hits the tail of the motorcycle.

“Kuh!”

“Ugh!”

The motorcycle spins, and Hae-soo and Team Leader Gu are thrown off, rolling on the road. The car speeds away.

Hae-soo hurriedly gets up and checks on Team Leader Gu. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to have any broken bones, just some bruises.

Team Leader Gu recognizes Hae-soo when he sees that his helmet has come off. His eyes widened.

“Chief Shin?!”

“Go to the hospital first.”

Hae-soo says quickly, picks up the motorcycle, and twists the accelerator. The back is slightly damaged, but it’s still drivable.

Hae-soo chases the black sedan and calls 112 [emergency services number in South Korea].

When time is of the essence, calling the situation room is good for getting support.

-This is emergency dispatch 112.

“This is Sergeant Shin Hae-soo from the Dongbu Precinct. I am reporting a hit-and-run and am chasing the suspect. Fleeing from Ganghwa Intersection towards the overpass, black Sonata, license plate 21 Rainbow Mu 330.”

-21 Mu 330, that plate isn’t registered. We can’t let him get away. If you can stay on the line, please keep telling us your location. We’ll send support patrol cars.

Brrr!

Hae-soo continues to transmit his location while chasing the black Sonata. While chasing, he remembers the suspicious woman he saw at the crosswalk earlier.

‘Focus on catching that car now.’

After following for a while, he sees that the traffic signal is red and the cars are congested. The line is longer than usual, and he guesses that the arriving police have manipulated the traffic lights.

The black sedan immediately tries to drive in the wrong direction without hesitation. Just then, two patrol cars appear and completely block the Sonata’s path.

Vroom! Crash!!

The Sonata crashes into the patrol car without slowing down, as if committing murder to escape. It crashes through the gap between the two patrol cars, clearing the way and breaking through again.

It seems that spike strips couldn’t be deployed quickly enough.

But thanks to this, the distance between Hae-soo’s motorcycle and the black Sonata is greatly reduced.

As soon as he gets right next to it, the driver glares at Hae-soo with fierce eyes and turns the steering wheel sharply.

Screech-!

Hae-soo also quickly turns the wheel to avoid colliding with the Sonata.

The driver tries to hit him again, taking aim. Hae-soo leans back slightly, stays close to the rear of the car where he’s less visible, and kicks the window with his foot.

Bang! Crack!

As soon as the window shatters, he kicks off the motorcycle and jumps into the car.

“You bastard!!”

As soon as Hae-soo gets in, the driver takes out a knife from his chest and turns around, swinging it.

Thwack-

He barely has time to react, and the knife slices his shoulder, causing a brief sting, but there’s almost no impact. The second time, he grabs the wrist of the guy holding the knife.

With his other hand, he grabs the guy’s Adam’s apple and slams it against the car’s ceiling.

Bang!

“Cough!”

He hasn’t let go of the knife yet, so he prepares to strike again.

Clang!!

At that moment, a shadow appears. A dump truck is crashing in from the 3 o’clock direction. Hae-soo abandons the driver and urgently pulls the side brake and turns the steering wheel.

Screech- Kwajangchangchang!! [Sound of a crash]

Hae-soo and the driver break the windshield and fly out, rolling around. Fortunately, he wasn’t crushed by the dump truck, but his stomach stings. When he looks down, a knife is sticking out of his stomach.

“Damn.”

The driver belatedly gets up, staggers, and tries to run away in the opposite direction from Hae-soo. Just then, the police who had just arrived surround the guy.

“Y, Yiaaaa!!”

Zzzzzz-

The guy doesn’t give up and tries to rush forward, but is hit by a taser gun and falls.

***

At the entrance of Daesung Hospital’s emergency room, an ambulance arrives.

The back door opens, and a man with a knife sticking out of his stomach gets out and walks on his own.

The paramedics rush to support him.

“I’m fine. I’ll go in alone. Keep up the good work.”

“Ah… then.”

Hae-soo waves the paramedics away and moves slowly. Very slowly so that the blade in his stomach doesn’t move around too much.

Hae-soo isn’t an emergency patient in a race against time, so the medical staff don’t come out to meet him because 119 hadn’t contacted them in advance.

When Hae-soo enters the emergency room with the knife supported in one hand, everyone’s attention is drawn to him.

A nurse rushes up after seeing the scene, but hesitates to get too close. She looks wary.

“P, patient, come this way. Teacher Kang, please contact the police.”

It is mandatory to contact the police in case of injuries caused by weapons such as knives and guns. Hae-soo takes out his police officer ID and shows it to the nurse.

He doesn’t want to make the detectives busy by making them come and go unnecessarily.

“It’s okay because it’s already been reported.”

“Ah, so you were a police officer. You’ve worked really hard.”

Only then does the tension disappear from the nurse’s face, and she goes to call the doctor.

While waiting, a loud noise is heard from the side.

“C, Chief Shin!!”

The owner of the voice is Team Leader Gu. He’s also at the same hospital with bruises. He’s horrified to see the knife in Hae-soo’s stomach.

“H, how did this happen! You were chasing the car earlier!”

“Lower your voice a little… The hit-and-run driver had a knife. Don’t worry, I caught him.”

Team Leader Gu grabs Hae-soo’s hands with both hands and trembles. His eyes start to water.

“Because of me…”

“It’s nothing. Why don’t you answer your phone?”

“Ah, I dropped it and it broke… How can there be such a knife in your stomach, you’re still young, you haven’t enjoyed everything yet…”

“Who’s dying? Why are you acting like I’m about to die?”

Team Leader Gu doesn’t seem to hear Hae-soo’s words and starts crying while lowering his head.

‘Was he always this tender-hearted?’

Just then, the doctor arrives and Team Leader Gu is ushered out.

Hae-soo immediately has the knife removed and receives treatment on the spot. Fortunately, no organs were damaged, but he needs more than ten stitches.

He’s advised to be hospitalized, but Hae-soo decides to receive outpatient treatment and gets up from the bed.

In the corner, Team Leader Gu is standing there with a face that looks like he’s about to burst into tears, having not left.

“Were you waiting?”

“Of course! My life’s savior is on the verge of death…”

“Are you saying I’m on the verge of death while being discharged on the same day? Ah, Team Leader Gu, are you free?”

“I have a slightly important appointment…”

“Cancel it and let’s go to the police station together.”

“…Yes? Me? Why am I…”

Team Leader Gu instinctively shrinks back, scared at the mention of going to the police station.

“That hit-and-run wasn’t a simple accident. There’s a possibility of a planned crime.”

“What does that… Then who is…”

“Yes, so we have to go and check.”

“I… I understand.”

Hae-soo comes out of the emergency room with Team Leader Gu. But there are many people gathered at the front gate of the hospital and it’s very noisy.

*

“Hey, shit!!”

“Whoa, whoa!”

“Ugh”

A large man, a head taller than the average adult, spits out swear words and struggles. The four hospital security guards clinging to him are being tossed around.

A sledgehammer, presumably belonging to the large man, is lying on the floor.

“No, listen! Just give me Kang Seon-mi! I’m telling you nicely!”

“Ugh!”

The large man’s strength is immense. Many spectators are watching as four people are dragged around by one person.

Tok Tok Tok [sound of tapping]

At that time, a young woman wearing a black two-piece suit walks out confidently from inside the main gate, accompanied by medical staff.

On both sides of her are two men standing close. The striped suit seems to be a secretary, and the black suit seems to be a bodyguard.

At her appearance, the spectators part like the parting of the Red Sea [biblical reference].

She stands facing the large man with two steps between them, without any fear.

“What’s going on?”

“Who are you? Bring Kang Seon-mi!”

Even though the large man glares at her threateningly, she doesn’t blink.

“I’m the person who can bring Kang Seon-mi. What’s going on?”

The large man also seems to think that she’s a high-ranking official, judging by her attire and the men guarding her, so he takes a breath and opens his mouth.

“I saw that bitch making out with other guys after promising to only look at me, wouldn’t you be pissed? Huh?! Bring that bitch! I’m going to smash her head in!”

The large man gets agitated again as he explains. Hae-soo sees a nurse among the people who is particularly frightened. The name tag reads Kang Seon-mi.

It’s obvious. He mistakenly believes that he had become her lover because she was a little nice to him when he was a patient.

A man wearing a striped suit approaches the woman and whispers to her.

Then the woman nods slightly and looks alternately at Kang Seon-mi and the man hiding behind her. It seems that she understands the situation.

She looks at the large man with colder eyes than before and speaks.

“There’s nothing more to discuss. Hand him over to the police.”

“What, what the fuck?! I’ll kill you first!”

He lashes out at the mention of the police and takes out a knife from his chest. The bodyguard quickly blocks the woman’s path and grabs his knife-wielding wrist.

Clack-

“Don’t let go, you son of a bitch!!”

The woman takes a step back and the guards rush in again. However, an unexpected situation occurs. The wrist is so thick that the bodyguard can’t properly subdue him and is pushed aside.

In that gap, the large man stretches out his knife towards the woman. In that instant, her pupils dilate.

The woman sees the face of the large man approaching her with a knife as if it were a demon that had just come out of hell.

Thud

At that time, a large hand covers the large man’s face. Then, the man, who was like a violent wild boar that no one could stop, falls powerlessly in the opposite direction.

The knife is moved away from her.

Cooong!

The large man who fell backwards is completely bewildered. He doesn’t know what’s going on and looks around. A strange man is standing very close by. He instinctively realizes that he was the one who tripped him.

The large man raises his upper body and reaches out to the man.

“Who are you! You bas-”

Clang!!

The large man is again slammed onto the floor without being able to do anything. He can feel blood flowing from the back of his head because it’s been split open.

Crunch

“K, cough”

The man looks down at the large man, gently stepping on his Adam’s apple. The look in his eyes, seeing something less than a bug, conveys that he would break his insignificant neck if he wasn’t careful.

The large man’s survival instinct kicks in and he freezes, unable to do anything.

The man holds his cell phone in that position.

“This is Sergeant Shin Hae-soo from the Dongbu Precinct. There is a weapon rampage at the main gate of Daesung Hospital. I have subdued him, so please send only the patrol cars to arrest him.”

<#12. A Police Officer with a Knife in His Stomach> End